Race Report: Lake Mills Triathlon 2008

This one is a tradition. It was my first triathlon EVER in 2006 and has become an annual event for me. It's pretty much the first triathlon of the season and everyone is there. That is what makes Lake Mills a really fun tri. You get to see many of your friends whether they are competing or just hanging out.

Last year, I learned that I am a long course person. I like racing for longer distances and can typically stay strong for long periods of time before I get tired. Short stuff just isn't my thing. I never get in a groove really and well, it hurts. Lake Mills is a sprint tri, so I knew it was going to hurt.

The weather was perfect as usual. It was sunny, mild and light winds. A perfect day for any early summer triathlon. I found a good spot in transition and headed to registration. I waited to check in and saw many friends. It was really fun and reminded me why I LOVE doing this stuff.

Pre-Race
After getting my transition area organized, I put on my wetsuit, slapped on some body glide and headed to the Lake. I wanted to swim on the course and get used to the chilly water before the race kicked off. I'm very, VERY, VERY glad I did that. The water was icy cold on your face, hands and feet. I was actually shocked at how cold it was. I wondered if I would even get used it and I actually got nervous about my swim. I was in the 10th of 12 waves this year, so I had plenty of time to hang out in the water waiting to start. I saw quite a few friends, took a few pictures and mentally prepared myself for the race.

Swim - 1/4 mile
I positioned myself in the center this year, since our wave appeared larger then normal and most people were choosing the outside or inside to line up. The gun went off and it was on - 2008 tri season! I started swimming easy and relaxed, but was getting bumped, kicked, swam over. It was frustrating and annoying, but since I don't start aggressively it's something I have to deal with. By the time we hit the first buoy, I was ahead of the majority of my wave and swimming along smoothly. I eventually started to dodge people from the wave ahead of me. This was a little frustrating since a number of these people were doing a stroke other than freestyle. I managed to find another girl who was my speed in the water and she was carving us a nice swim lane towards shore. We stayed together until the shore and headed for T1.

T1
I tried to get through it as smoothly as possible, but luck wasn't on my side. My wetsuit was a struggle to get off, I broke something on my helmet and had trouble getting my bike off the rack. Shake it off and move along....

Bike- 15 miles
I really wanted to do well on the bike this year. I wanted to take a minute off of last year. I started out kinda easy and then 'dropped' the hammer so to speak. I tried to ride at 170 watts as best I could, avoid getting passed and be careful not to draft. I didn't feel horrible on the bike, but I didn't feel great either. I seemed to be doing a decent job of riding strong, since no one was passing me and I was passing most of the people I came upon. I ballparked the time on my watch since I didn't remember to hit the split button and thought I came in around 45 minutes. Not a minute faster than last year, but not too shabby either.

T2
T2 felt slow. I struggled getting my shoes on and just felt like it was forever before I set out on the run. I crossed the timing mat onto the run course, grabbed a cup of water and I was off

Run - 3.1 miles
My goal on the run was just to gut it out. I had just run the MadCity half a week before and didn't know if I was recovered or not. My legs felt like they were turning over fast and I tried to slow them down, but they just kept on moving. I was passing one person after another and knew I was running quickly. Only one person passed me on the run, which was a great feeling. Even though it was only 3 miles, I couldn't wait to get it over with. That's the bad part about doing a race 3 years in a row - when it hurts, you know exactly how far you have left to go.

I finished in 1:18:44. I was 1 minute, 14 seconds slower than last year. Kinda disappointing, but still a respectable time. Afterall, this isn't my distance and I'm ok with that. I was very happy to see a 12 second improvement in my swim and a personal best at the 5K distance for me! I knocked 40 seconds off of last year's 5K time. The bike was a disappointment. I was 2 minutes slower than last year. Oh well - it was still a really good day.

I was disappointed though. Joe was going to try and make it. He was working the night before and he wasn't sure if he'd get there or not. I never saw him on the course, so I assumed he hadn't made it.

I ran into some friends, exchanged race thoughts, grabbed a coke and went to pack my gear. I checked my phone. No call from Joe. I thought he would have at least called. While packing my bag, I got a text message. Maybe that was Joe - asking how my race was. I figured I'd check it when I was done packing my bag up. Then the phone rang and it was Joe.

Turns out - he did make it to the triathlon and had been waiting for me at the finish for 20 minutes! What a great surprise! He had missed me finish, but still was there to support me anyways. THAT was the best part of my entire day. I'm so thrilled that he was there - even if he never got to see me race.

Final Stats:

Swim: 7:32
T1: 1:42
Bike: 46:32
T2: 1:10
Run: 21:50

Total Time: 1:18:44

Gender Place: 19/269
AG Place: 6/38

Next BIG Race of the season is Saturday June 14th: Liberty Half Ironman in Maple Plain, MN.

Race Report: MadCity Half Marathon, May 25, 2008

Several weeks before the Madison Half Marathon, I was actually excited to run it. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but the 2008 race season was under way and I wanted to see how my training was progressing.

In the days preceding the race, I wasn't feeling very well. I actually thought I was coming down with something, so I had really lowered my expectations. Along with lower expectations, came lower excitement. I hit the point where I had no desire to run the race, but I paid for it and I had some friends doing it. Might as well give it shot. The worst that can happen is I don't feel well and run slower or god forbid, DNF.

Race morning arrived and I headed downtown for the race bright and early. The weather was looking good and I felt somewhat better than I had previously. I scored on parking and managed to find a port-o-potty right next to my car. It was pretty gross actually and sort of tipped when you sat down. I headed up to the square expecting to run into the many friends I had running the race, but I wasn't finding anyone for awhile. Finally, I started bumping into people. Once you find one person, you'll likely meet up with everyone else you know as well.

I ran into my training partner and friend Mary as were doing a final bathroom stop (this time MUCH cleaner and no tipping). We dropped off our gear bags and started to head to the starting line when I ran into David and Allison. David and I finished both High Cliff and Ironman together last year and have since become friends. We had dinner the night before and I was happy to see us all end up starting the race together as well.

The gun went off and we had a downhill start. Within a minute or two of starting some woman fell and hit the ground pretty hard. There was a lot of crowding and people not lining up by their pace, not watching where they were going, etc...I looked back as she fell and kept on running. I felt bad, but there were several people helping her out. I doubt she wanted 10 people huddled over her.

Almost immediately, I knew I was going to need another bathroom stop. I couldn't believe it. This usually doesn't happen to me during a running race, but I had to suck it up and find the first port-o-potty I could on the course. It came just under 8 minutes and 1 mile into the race. I made a dash for it and 1 minute later I was back on the course. By stopping, I had lost Mary and Allison. And David had taken off like a bat outta hell, so he was long gone. I just tried to run as consistently as I possibly could and only hoped to make up that minute on Mary/Allison at some point.

At Mile 2, I found Mary. We pushed ahead and weaved through the crowd. Eventually I split off from Mary and just tried to settle in. I knew I was really close to running an 8 minute pace. I hoped to run under 1:45, if I was feeling well. I took this as a good sign and just tried to hold that pace as long as I could. The miles ticked by....Mile 3, Mile 4....I found my friend Petra (who was looking strong!), we exchanged greetings and I kept moving forward. Mile 5....Mile 6.....

I didn't remember the course being so hilly, but I was pleased to see that I was maintaining my pace despite the hills and despite how I felt earlier in the week. I went back and forth for awhile with a girl in bright pink shorts. She'd power up the hills and relax on the flats. I'd relax on the hills and power through the flats. Eventually she got ahead of me and stayed there. But, I didn't care. I just wanted to hold my pace and finish the race.

Mile 7 and Mile 8 included a long uphill run on Monroe street. It was cruel, but the end was in sight. Then, another uphill....and then a downhill. This downhill was steep and so it wasn't really good to my quads. Still, I thought about how I'd be making the final turn back towards the finish line. Nope, just kidding. Instead, we had to turn right, run 1/4 mile down a trail, turn around and come back. Lame...and mentally it sucked. Fortunately I had my friend Ed to bring a smile to my face, offer some words of encouragement and even run with me for a few steps. I needed the encouragement then, because I was getting tired and really, really, really wanted to slow down.

Mile 9....anytime now I was expecting to see Joe on his mountain bike. Mile 10 and it was time to go over the pedestrian bridge. It's like the race directors felt as though we hadn't had a hill in awhile. As I crested the bridge, I saw Joe on the other side waiting for me. It was a relief to see him. He pedaled alongside me for a bit talking to me about my race. I was dead tired, but still moving at my slightly sub 8 minute pace. Joe biked on up ahead to wait for me just past Mile 11.

I caught up with my friend Becky and we ran a few steps together. I knew Joe wasn't far away and he had company. His friend Joe and son Zen were also there to see me run. Zen is the most adorable little boy and it was a blast running by him. Joe snapped a picture as I cruised on by. Right after seeing the guys, I passed the Fleet Feet tent and saw many friends. It felt great and I was only 1.5 miles from the finish. Then, it felt like I hit a wall. I looked at my watch, did the math and knew I had to run at an 8:20 pace to break 1:45. Somehow, I had built myself a buffer of time. At this point in the run, it was nice to know I had it. The final mile just ticked on by. Before I knew it, I was in the last 1/4 mile of the race. Joe was there again to cheer me on and I was going to have an even better race than I expected.

As I headed for the finish line, I saw David about 30 feet in front of me. Knowing how competitive David is, I made my way up to him. I considered being sneaky and blowing by him at the last second. But, I couldn't do that. I made him aware of my presence by yelling at him. David looked completely surprised and sprinted like mad for the finish. My calves cramped up and I cranked out the last 20 yards as best I could. Final time: 1:44:06....I was only 36 seconds off a personal best. Just to think - if I hadn't been in the port-o-potty at Mile 1 for a minute...

Each time I race, I learn something new about myself and my training. This time I learned that having a few bad days doesn't mean you are going to have a bad race. I learned that mentally I can hang on, even when I want to slow down and ease the pain. I got closer to perfecting the skill of talking myself into accepting more pain for end glory. Not only do we learn new lessons, but old ones are reinforced. The best part of any race day is the people - your friends, family, spectators, other athletes, etc...

This run was a great gauge of my run fitness for the start of my summer races. Check out my Lake Mills Triathlon Race Report - 2008.

Busy, Busy...and kinda lazy too!

I haven't written in nearly 6 weeks and I know it's completely unacceptable since there are SO many people following my every move. I'm gonna run through the highlights and then commit to writing a few race reports.

1) NEW JOB! In a very unexpected turn of events, I managed to find a brand new job that I'm pretty excited about. I finished my full time work at Saris yesterday and will start my new job with TeamSoft next Monday. I'll be back in the world of consulting, which will be a major change of pace for me, but overall a very good change for my career and my life.

2) RACES! I've competed in 3 races in the last 6 weeks. The first was the CrazyLegs Classic - a Madison tradition. It's an 8K (5 mile) run that goes through beautiful downtown Madison and finishes on the 50 yard line of Camp Randall. I had an awesome time running it with my friend Steve Donovan. We kinda cruised through it with no real plan or no urge to race. In the last mile though, we kicked it up a notch and with some help from a tailwind we cranked out a 7:10 mile to finish the run in under 40 minutes. Of course, we celebrated with a beer afterwards. But alas the weather was nasty - windy and cold, so we headed out and went on with our days.

I'll write up race reports (see, here's the commitment to write more!) for the Madison Half Marathon and the Lake Mills Triathlon.

3) BOWLING! Joe, Jason and I have started a bowling league in Madison. Yes, we are officially dorks. Each week we head to Dream Lanes to bowl on league night. As part of the league deal, we get to bowl for free all summer long so typically we end up at the bowling alley more than once week. And, if that doesn't sound dorky enough...Joe and I have had some bowling lessons from our bowling coach. Oh yeah, we are COOL.

Other fun things coming up: a weekend in Door County with Joe, Liberty Half Ironman, Father's Day, Cranberry Lake Weekend.....

Stay Tuned for those race reports!